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Description

“When the singularity arrives, as it surely will, it will do so on extended wings.” ―Kirkus Reviews

The Strange Bird—from New York Times bestselling novelist Jeff VanderMeer—is a novella-length digital original that expands and weaves deeply into the world of his “thorough marvel”* of a novel, Borne.

The Strange Bird is a new kind of creature, built in a laboratory—she is part bird, part human, part many other things. But now the lab in which she was created is under siege and the scientists have turned on their animal creations. Flying through tunnels, dodging bullets, and changing her colors and patterning to avoid capture, the Strange Bird manages to escape.

But she cannot just soar in peace above the earth. The sky itself is full of wildlife that rejects her as one of their own, and also full of technology—satellites and drones and other detritus of the human civilization below that has all but destroyed itself. And the farther she flies, the deeper she finds herself in the orbit of the Company, a collapsed biotech firm that has populated the world with experiments both failed and successful that have outlived the corporation itself: a pack of networked foxes, a giant predatory bear. But of the many creatures she encounters with whom she bears some kind of kinship, it is the humans—all of them now simply scrambling to survive—who are the most insidious, who still see her as simply something to possess, to capture, to trade, to exploit. Never to understand, never to welcome home.

With The Strange Bird, Jeff VanderMeer has done more than add another layer, a new chapter, to his celebrated novel Borne. He has created a whole new perspective on the world inhabited by Rachel and Wick, the Magician, Mord, and Borne—a view from above, of course, but also a view from deep inside the mind of a new kind of creature who will fight and suffer and live for the tenuous future of this world.

Description

“When the singularity arrives, as it surely will, it will do so on extended wings.” ―Kirkus Reviews

The Strange Bird—from New York Times bestselling novelist Jeff VanderMeer—is a novella-length digital original that expands and weaves deeply into the world of his “thorough marvel”* of a novel, Borne.

The Strange Bird is a new kind of creature, built in a laboratory—she is part bird, part human, part many other things. But now the lab in which she was created is under siege and the scientists have turned on their animal creations. Flying through tunnels, dodging bullets, and changing her colors and patterning to avoid capture, the Strange Bird manages to escape.

But she cannot just soar in peace above the earth. The sky itself is full of wildlife that rejects her as one of their own, and also full of technology—satellites and drones and other detritus of the human civilization below that has all but destroyed itself. And the farther she flies, the deeper she finds herself in the orbit of the Company, a collapsed biotech firm that has populated the world with experiments both failed and successful that have outlived the corporation itself: a pack of networked foxes, a giant predatory bear. But of the many creatures she encounters with whom she bears some kind of kinship, it is the humans—all of them now simply scrambling to survive—who are the most insidious, who still see her as simply something to possess, to capture, to trade, to exploit. Never to understand, never to welcome home.

With The Strange Bird, Jeff VanderMeer has done more than add another layer, a new chapter, to his celebrated novel Borne. He has created a whole new perspective on the world inhabited by Rachel and Wick, the Magician, Mord, and Borne—a view from above, of course, but also a view from deep inside the mind of a new kind of creature who will fight and suffer and live for the tenuous future of this world.

A Note From the Publisher

paperback original / 128 pages total

paperback original / 128 pages total

Advance Praise

Select Praise for BORNE by Jeff VanderMeer

"Borne, the latest novel from New Weird author Jeff VanderMeer, is a story of loving self-sacrifice, hallucinatory beauty, and poisonous trust . . . Heady delights only add to the engrossing richness of Borne. The main attraction is a tale of mothers and monsters—and of how we make each other with our love.” —Nisi Shawl, The Washington Post

"VanderMeer's apocalyptic vision, with its mix of absurdity, horror, and grace, can't be mistaken for that of anyone else. Inventive, engrossing, and heartbreaking, Borne finds [VanderMeer] at a high point of creative accomplishment.” —Mike Berry, San Francisco Chronicle

"Borne, Jeff VanderMeer's lyrical and harrowing new novel, may be the most beautifully written, and believable, post-apocalyptic tale in recent memory . . . [VanderMeer] outdoes himself in this visionary novel shimmering with as much inventiveness and deliriously unlikely, post-human optimism as Borne himself.” —Elizabeth Hand, Los Angeles Times

"VanderMeer is that rare novelist who turns to nonhumans not to make them approximate us as much as possible but to make such approximation impossible. All of this is magnified a hundredfold in Borne . . . Here is the story about biotech that VanderMeer wants to tell, a vision of the nonhuman not as one fixed thing, one fixed destiny, but as either peaceful or catastrophic, by our side or out on a rampage as our behavior dictates--for these are our children, born of us and now to be borne in whatever shape or mess we have created. This coming-of-age story signals that eco-fiction has come of age as well: wilder, more reckless and more breathtaking than previously thought, a wager and a promise that what emerges from the twenty-first century will be as good as any from the twentieth, or the nineteenth." —Wai Chee Dimock, The New York Times Book Review

“The conceptual elements in VanderMeer’s fiction are so striking that the firmness with which he cinches them to his characters’ lives is often overlooked . . . Borne is VanderMeer’s trans-species rumination on the theme of parenting . . . [Borne] insists that to live in an age of gods and sorcerers is to know that you, a mere person, might be crushed by indifferent forces at a moment’s notice, then quickly forgotten. And that the best thing about human nature might just be its unwillingness to surrender to the worst side of itself.”—Laura Miller, The New Yorker

"VanderMeer, author of the acclaimed Southern Reach trilogy, has made a career out of eluding genre classifications, and with Bornehe essentially invents a new one . . . more than just weird fiction: weird literature.” —Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW

"Supremely literary, distinctly unusual . . . VanderMeer's deep talent for worldbuilding takes him into realms more reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy's The Road than of the Shire. Superb: a protagonist and a tale sure to please fans of smart, literate fantasy and science fiction.” —Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW

“VanderMeer offers another conceptual cautionary tale of corporate greed, scientific hubris, and precarious survival . . . VanderMeer marries bildungsroman, domestic drama, love story, and survival thriller into one compelling, intelligent story centered not around the gee-whiz novelty of a flying bear but around complex, vulnerable characters struggling with what it means to be a person.VanderMeer’s talent for immersive world-building and stunning imagery is on display in this weird, challenging, but always heartfelt novel.” —Krista Hutley, ALA Booklist, STARRED REVIEW

"Despite being really far out, it somehow offers the most realistic evocation of ecological catastrophe I've ever read. Climate change is figured as a phantasmagorical that would be fascinating, maybe even beautiful, if it weren't about to kill most of us. Horrible. Great fun.“ —Roger White, Art in America

“Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach Trilogy was an ever-creeping map of the apocalypse; with Borne he continues his investigation into the malevolent grace of the world, and it's a thorough marvel.” —Colson Whitehead

Select Praise for BORNE by Jeff VanderMeer

"Borne, the latest novel from New Weird author Jeff VanderMeer, is a story of loving self-sacrifice, hallucinatory beauty, and poisonous trust . . . Heady...

Advance Praise

Select Praise for BORNE by Jeff VanderMeer

"Borne, the latest novel from New Weird author Jeff VanderMeer, is a story of loving self-sacrifice, hallucinatory beauty, and poisonous trust . . . Heady delights only add to the engrossing richness of Borne. The main attraction is a tale of mothers and monsters—and of how we make each other with our love.” —Nisi Shawl, The Washington Post

"VanderMeer's apocalyptic vision, with its mix of absurdity, horror, and grace, can't be mistaken for that of anyone else. Inventive, engrossing, and heartbreaking, Borne finds [VanderMeer] at a high point of creative accomplishment.” —Mike Berry, San Francisco Chronicle

"Borne, Jeff VanderMeer's lyrical and harrowing new novel, may be the most beautifully written, and believable, post-apocalyptic tale in recent memory . . . [VanderMeer] outdoes himself in this visionary novel shimmering with as much inventiveness and deliriously unlikely, post-human optimism as Borne himself.” —Elizabeth Hand, Los Angeles Times

"VanderMeer is that rare novelist who turns to nonhumans not to make them approximate us as much as possible but to make such approximation impossible. All of this is magnified a hundredfold in Borne . . . Here is the story about biotech that VanderMeer wants to tell, a vision of the nonhuman not as one fixed thing, one fixed destiny, but as either peaceful or catastrophic, by our side or out on a rampage as our behavior dictates--for these are our children, born of us and now to be borne in whatever shape or mess we have created. This coming-of-age story signals that eco-fiction has come of age as well: wilder, more reckless and more breathtaking than previously thought, a wager and a promise that what emerges from the twenty-first century will be as good as any from the twentieth, or the nineteenth." —Wai Chee Dimock, The New York Times Book Review

“The conceptual elements in VanderMeer’s fiction are so striking that the firmness with which he cinches them to his characters’ lives is often overlooked . . . Borne is VanderMeer’s trans-species rumination on the theme of parenting . . . [Borne] insists that to live in an age of gods and sorcerers is to know that you, a mere person, might be crushed by indifferent forces at a moment’s notice, then quickly forgotten. And that the best thing about human nature might just be its unwillingness to surrender to the worst side of itself.”—Laura Miller, The New Yorker

"VanderMeer, author of the acclaimed Southern Reach trilogy, has made a career out of eluding genre classifications, and with Bornehe essentially invents a new one . . . more than just weird fiction: weird literature.” —Publishers Weekly, STARRED REVIEW

"Supremely literary, distinctly unusual . . . VanderMeer's deep talent for worldbuilding takes him into realms more reminiscent of Cormac McCarthy's The Road than of the Shire. Superb: a protagonist and a tale sure to please fans of smart, literate fantasy and science fiction.” —Kirkus Reviews, STARRED REVIEW

“VanderMeer offers another conceptual cautionary tale of corporate greed, scientific hubris, and precarious survival . . . VanderMeer marries bildungsroman, domestic drama, love story, and survival thriller into one compelling, intelligent story centered not around the gee-whiz novelty of a flying bear but around complex, vulnerable characters struggling with what it means to be a person.VanderMeer’s talent for immersive world-building and stunning imagery is on display in this weird, challenging, but always heartfelt novel.” —Krista Hutley, ALA Booklist, STARRED REVIEW

"Despite being really far out, it somehow offers the most realistic evocation of ecological catastrophe I've ever read. Climate change is figured as a phantasmagorical that would be fascinating, maybe even beautiful, if it weren't about to kill most of us. Horrible. Great fun.“ —Roger White, Art in America

“Jeff VanderMeer’s Southern Reach Trilogy was an ever-creeping map of the apocalypse; with Borne he continues his investigation into the malevolent grace of the world, and it's a thorough marvel.” —Colson Whitehead

Available Editions

EDITION

Other Format

ISBN

9780374537920

PRICE

$10.00 (USD)

Links

Average rating from 16 members

Featured Reviews

Spencer H, Reviewer

Recommends This Book

Yes

This is an exquisitely written novella that acts as an addition to Jeff VanderMeer’s novel Borne. The writing is beautiful, however the world is harsh and bizarre but grounded with emotion as you follow the strange bird and its journey across this extraordinary land. I love the imagination of VanderMeer and the unique stories he creates, this book is another brilliant example of this. It's a surprisingly touching story and I’d very much recommend it!

Recommends This Book

Yes

Was this review helpful?

Mary V, Librarian

Recommends This Book

Strongly

In this novella's expansion of VanderMeer's Borne, the reader again is witness to his unparalleled imagination. The Strange Bird inhabits a desperate world where again we meet the mutant flying bear, Mord, the cruel Magician, Rachel the survivor and her lover Wick. "...the situation was extreme and the world was dying. So they had gone on doing the same things that had destroyed the world, to save it." The Strange Bird is a mutant creature comprised of human and avian genes, and technology. "What did she hope for? To find purpose, and for kindness which had not yet been shown to her. Where did she wish to rest? A place she could call home, a place that was safe." The Strange Bird bestows an arial view of Borne's world laid waste by human inhabitants; devastated by mad scientists and uncontrolled technology. Impressive, unforgettable, The Strange Bird is highly recommended for all science fiction aficionados.

Recommends This Book

Strongly

Was this review helpful?

Allison I, Reviewer

Recommends This Book

Yes

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It adds an extra layer of depth to the story in Borne, and I like that it runs parallel to the events that occur there, while still remaining its own separate story arc. You do not need to have read either story in order to read the other.
It is wonderfully written, and while it provides a glimpse into the darker side of humanity and what it means to survive, it also had a bittersweet ending that I thoroughly enjoyed. I will definitely be recommending this one.

Recommends This Book

Yes

Was this review helpful?

Mary S, Bookseller

Recommends This Book

Strongly

Recommends This Book

Strongly

Was this review helpful?

Jamie G, Reviewer

Recommends This Book

Strongly

Wow.
I am blown away by how beautiful and atmospheric this was. I truly felt the despair and it makes you venture into the madness with this bird-seriously had left me feeling anxious multiple times throughout the book.
This is a little side story to Jeff VanderMeer's story Borne. We follow The Strange Bird in this novella; however, past characters like The Magician and Wick show up as well. I will say, I truly despise the Magician even more than before, and absolutely love Wick. When you read this, you will understand fully.
While I personally didn't love Borne, I adored this novella. I liked how VanderMeer concentrated on one main character in this story, not like in Borne, that had several main characters, and I just really didn't connect with any one in particular.
Overall, I would recommend this to everyone.
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest opinion. My thanks to Jeff VanderMeer and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the opportunity to read and review this book.
(Will post on Amazon when book is released).

Recommends This Book

Strongly

Was this review helpful?

Emily W, Librarian

Recommends This Book

Strongly

I loved Vandermeer's novel Borne, which this is in addition to, so I knew I'd love this novella before I started. This novella gives the reader a lot of backstory to various characters in Borne and it answers a lot of questions about the plot points of Borne that the reader isn't privy to. I just love Vandermeer's writing style and I always get lost in the dream worlds he seems to create in his books.

Recommends This Book

Strongly

Was this review helpful?

Brea M, Librarian

Recommends This Book

Strongly

"She sang for joy. Not because she had not suffered or been reduced. But because she was finally free and the world could not be saved, but nor would it be destroyed."
I mean, DAMN!
I had to actually stop and read this aloud last night as I was finishing the book. VanderMeer's writing conjures up the most powerful imagery; at times throughout the book, it was almost as if I was standing there with the Strange Bird. Observing this crazy world that, try as it might, cannot truly destroy us.
The Strange Bird was nothing that I expected going into this experience, but everything that I needed. While it is a novella meant to accompany Borne, I think this book could act as a stand alone novella. However, if you have intentions of reading Borne I would wait and read this last, because there are a few things that could *potentially* be spoilers.
My favorite part of this novella, is the humanity that VanderMeer brings to this bird, who as a piece of biotechnology, is so far from what we would believe to be human.
There is a sadness and despair to the bird, that one can only relate to as a human, and something about that is very sobering.
Five stars, Jeff VanderMeer.
FIVE. STARS.
*I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Recommends This Book

Strongly

Was this review helpful?

Deborah G, Bookseller

Recommends This Book

Strongly

A very dark tale set in the Bourne universe about a very strange bird. I loved this short story as it expands the very weird world of Bourne. I hope there are more stories like this one in the future.

Additional Information

Available Editions

Links

Featured Reviews

Spencer H, Reviewer

Recommends This Book

Yes

This is an exquisitely written novella that acts as an addition to Jeff VanderMeer’s novel Borne. The writing is beautiful, however the world is harsh and bizarre but grounded with emotion as you follow the strange bird and its journey across this extraordinary land. I love the imagination of VanderMeer and the unique stories he creates, this book is another brilliant example of this. It's a surprisingly touching story and I’d very much recommend it!

Recommends This Book

Yes

Was this review helpful?

Mary V, Librarian

Recommends This Book

Strongly

In this novella's expansion of VanderMeer's Borne, the reader again is witness to his unparalleled imagination. The Strange Bird inhabits a desperate world where again we meet the mutant flying bear, Mord, the cruel Magician, Rachel the survivor and her lover Wick. "...the situation was extreme and the world was dying. So they had gone on doing the same things that had destroyed the world, to save it." The Strange Bird is a mutant creature comprised of human and avian genes, and technology. "What did she hope for? To find purpose, and for kindness which had not yet been shown to her. Where did she wish to rest? A place she could call home, a place that was safe." The Strange Bird bestows an arial view of Borne's world laid waste by human inhabitants; devastated by mad scientists and uncontrolled technology. Impressive, unforgettable, The Strange Bird is highly recommended for all science fiction aficionados.

Recommends This Book

Strongly

Was this review helpful?

Allison I, Reviewer

Recommends This Book

Yes

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. It adds an extra layer of depth to the story in Borne, and I like that it runs parallel to the events that occur there, while still remaining its own separate story arc. You do not need to have read either story in order to read the other.
It is wonderfully written, and while it provides a glimpse into the darker side of humanity and what it means to survive, it also had a bittersweet ending that I thoroughly enjoyed. I will definitely be recommending this one.

Recommends This Book

Yes

Was this review helpful?

Mary S, Bookseller

Recommends This Book

Strongly

Recommends This Book

Strongly

Was this review helpful?

Jamie G, Reviewer

Recommends This Book

Strongly

Wow.
I am blown away by how beautiful and atmospheric this was. I truly felt the despair and it makes you venture into the madness with this bird-seriously had left me feeling anxious multiple times throughout the book.
This is a little side story to Jeff VanderMeer's story Borne. We follow The Strange Bird in this novella; however, past characters like The Magician and Wick show up as well. I will say, I truly despise the Magician even more than before, and absolutely love Wick. When you read this, you will understand fully.
While I personally didn't love Borne, I adored this novella. I liked how VanderMeer concentrated on one main character in this story, not like in Borne, that had several main characters, and I just really didn't connect with any one in particular.
Overall, I would recommend this to everyone.
I received a copy of this book through NetGalley for an honest opinion. My thanks to Jeff VanderMeer and Farrar, Straus and Giroux for the opportunity to read and review this book.
(Will post on Amazon when book is released).

Recommends This Book

Strongly

Was this review helpful?

Emily W, Librarian

Recommends This Book

Strongly

I loved Vandermeer's novel Borne, which this is in addition to, so I knew I'd love this novella before I started. This novella gives the reader a lot of backstory to various characters in Borne and it answers a lot of questions about the plot points of Borne that the reader isn't privy to. I just love Vandermeer's writing style and I always get lost in the dream worlds he seems to create in his books.

Recommends This Book

Strongly

Was this review helpful?

Brea M, Librarian

Recommends This Book

Strongly

"She sang for joy. Not because she had not suffered or been reduced. But because she was finally free and the world could not be saved, but nor would it be destroyed."
I mean, DAMN!
I had to actually stop and read this aloud last night as I was finishing the book. VanderMeer's writing conjures up the most powerful imagery; at times throughout the book, it was almost as if I was standing there with the Strange Bird. Observing this crazy world that, try as it might, cannot truly destroy us.
The Strange Bird was nothing that I expected going into this experience, but everything that I needed. While it is a novella meant to accompany Borne, I think this book could act as a stand alone novella. However, if you have intentions of reading Borne I would wait and read this last, because there are a few things that could *potentially* be spoilers.
My favorite part of this novella, is the humanity that VanderMeer brings to this bird, who as a piece of biotechnology, is so far from what we would believe to be human.
There is a sadness and despair to the bird, that one can only relate to as a human, and something about that is very sobering.
Five stars, Jeff VanderMeer.
FIVE. STARS.
*I received a copy of this book from Netgalley in exchange for an honest review

Recommends This Book

Strongly

Was this review helpful?

Deborah G, Bookseller

Recommends This Book

Strongly

A very dark tale set in the Bourne universe about a very strange bird. I loved this short story as it expands the very weird world of Bourne. I hope there are more stories like this one in the future.